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46
Minor Ailment Clinics.
These clinics continue in their popularity and hardly deserve
the name "minor." Children attend with all and every sort of
complaint, both physical and mental. They are referred for opinion
by school teachers or are brought by their parents for consultation.
The attendance of parents with them is as excellent as it is invaluable
to the doctor in giving advice, and provides an opportunity for health
educational instruction. Some parents who are in employment find
difficulty in obtaining leave to attend the clinics with their children,
and it is thought that the attendance card which every child possesses
might be used with value by the parent to dispel any anxiety of
defaulting which may arise in managerial minds. Whereas the
urgency of our production drive is only too painfully manifest, it
must be realised that a parent's first responsibility is to the health
of its offspring.
Another valuable aspect of the larger attendances at these
clinics is that a fair proportion of children in all age groups are seen
during the year, thus augmenting the statutory school inspections.
The result of penicillin cream in shortening the period of
disability and infection in impetigo is paramount.
Health Education.
During the year courses have been held at the clinics for school
leavers, consisting of lecture demonstrations in the care of babies
and the principles of child health. By arrangement with the schools,
some of the girls in their final year have been enabled to attend the
Borough day nurseries on Saturday mornings, thereby gaining
valuable experience in the care and management of the young child.
At all the clinics every opportunity is taken by the medical staff
to inculcate knowledge aimed at improving the health standard
of our community. Talks by health visitors and school nurses and
the provision of pamphlets have played their part in the dissemination
of the ways and means of preventing disease and
maintaining good health. The value of the friendly advice given
in the homes of the people by the health visitors and school nurses
in the course of their duties cannot be overestimated.
Mothers have attended lecture demonstrations at Park Lane
on cooking and dietary, including the hygienic storage and preparation
of foods.